While exploring various spots around the Santa Cruz as well as San Mateo coast, I often find discarded or super beat-up plastics like brush hogs or some kind of grub/worm like a large white Kalin grub. Now throwing swimbaits I understand--even if I'm terrible at it still-- but how about these other plastics I'm finding? Those of you that fish rocky, and especially kelpy, areas with plastics like these: would you just rig a drop-shot and let it sit? Bounce it off the bottom on a slow retrieve?

Apologies if these questions seem super elementary. I've a tough enough time getting my hi/lo out of the kelp and I figure I'd just be losing plastic after plastic if I were drop-shotting it, but I keep finding these things all over the place so I guess people are having success with them._________________Catch & cook. No time for selfies.

Besides drop shot, I suggest a Texas rig or even a Carolina rig. Had good success with the twitch, lift and drop technique. Need to run braid/peg the weight to minimize snags...but as you know, you have good days and bad days.

brush hog/ freshwater football jigs type lures or anything with the weed guard I usually bounce bottom as much as possible all the way back.

Grubs, I usually do a super slow retrieve near bottom. Sometimes I jig it back higher in the water column to check for suspended rockfish. If you get lucky, you can run into a school of suspending black/blues and get a flurry of bites.

In very snaggy conditions, my favorite is still a weedless dropshot fluke. It lets you really feel the bottom structure and work your bait around it without getting snagged as much.

I've just about stopped using bait unless I'm poke poling. I've found that large rockfish will readily take plastics many times over the piece of squid or anchovy that's dangling nearby. My go-to is a texas rig with a pegged bullet sinker down to a weedless rigged tube jig. I run 40-65lb braid as mainline and do nothing but hop the lure off the rocks. I like colors that imitate octopi, reds, oranges and blacks.

Thanks for the replies! I'll definitely be giving some of these a go next weekend along the Santa Cruz coast.

In heavy cover/lots of kelp, how heavy do you go with your weights? Those bullet weights 1/2oz and above can get pretty pricey. Would a regular egg sinker work here or are the flipping/worm weights really that important?

Also do any of you apply any scent (oil, spray, etc..) to your plastics?_________________Catch & cook. No time for selfies.

If you use the search function, you will find a very detailed write up in the tutorials section.

Clayman's legendary post is a must-read, I agree. That thread has been locked for years now however, so I thought I'd ask a few of the regulars around here for some advice._________________Catch & cook. No time for selfies.

Good idea! Yeah I've watched a number of CCB's videos as well as other videos of people targeting calicos in heavy kelp and it has been a good education.

Nothing like getting out there on the water and just doing it though! So it looks like Sunday will bring ideal conditions for throwing some artificials._________________Catch & cook. No time for selfies.